Over the last few years, digital video and still cameras have become more and more sophisticated, thus offering many advanced features. These features include, for example, noise filtering, instant red-eye removal, high-quality images, image and video stabilization, in-camera editing of pictures, wireless transmission of image data, etc.
With respect to image stabilization, technology now exists that attempts to compensate for camera motion when the user is taking a picture or making a recording. Particularly, if the user is trying to record a subject or an event, the user's hand—which is holding the camera—will often inadvertently move or shake at the moment of capture. Image stabilization is intended to counteract these movements, however small they may be, thereby improving the sharpness and overall quality of images produced by the camera.
In that regard, “digital image stabilization” refers to stabilization of the image after it has been captured or recorded. That is, in digital image stabilization, image data already recorded by the camera is then modified electronically or by software after its capture to compensate for hand motion. In contrast, mechanical or Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) refers to the stabilization of physical parts or components (e.g., lens, sensor, etc.) to counteract inadvertent camera movement at the very moment of capture. In optical image stabilization, the camera is equipped with additional electro-mechanical components that aim to compensate for hand motion, camera shake, and other such artifacts as they happen, in or near real-time.
Two main types of OIS include lens-based stabilization systems and sensor-shift stabilization systems. In a lens-based OIS system, one or more parts of the optical lens attached to the camera is moved by an actuator, which compensates for camera movement. Conversely, in a sensor-based OIS system, the imaging sensor is moved by the actuator to perform such compensation.